Golrush007 - new Bond Music feature
Golrush007
South AfricaPosts: 3,421Quartermasters
I've just added a new section to my website about Bond music. It doesn't pretend to be a definitive article on the Bond music, but rather my opinions on the music and the things that I like and dislike. I don't really know anything about film music, but I really enjoy listening to it!
The first article is about the latest score, Casino Royale. http://gr007.110mb.com/bondmusic.html I hope you find it interesting. If not, I don't blame you!
The next article will hopefully be available in about a weeks time.
The first article is about the latest score, Casino Royale. http://gr007.110mb.com/bondmusic.html I hope you find it interesting. If not, I don't blame you!
The next article will hopefully be available in about a weeks time.
Comments
http://gr007.110mb.com/frwlscore.html
http://gr007.110mb.com/gescore.html
Enjoy!
Thanks Barbel.
Well thought out, Golrush007. I've done something similar myself in the past, and it's a real labour of love ("as we say"). Looking forward to your next review.
Poor Serra's score... it's knocked about just for being different.
Hi JFF. I know Altman didn't compose the piece you mentioned, but as I understand it he orchestrated the string arrangement for it. Sorry if i didn't make that clear enough in the article.
No, JFF. George Martin's LALD is different (funky!), as is Marvin Hamlisch's TSWLM (disco!), Bill Conti's FYEO(80s!), and Michael Kamen's LTK (boring!).
Eric Serra's GE is knocked about for being terrible. It's unBondian, amelodic and inappropriate.
The score's lack of popularity is due, not so much to bad music, but more to Serra misreading what the 90s Bond fan wants to hear. And frankly, the producers should have known better as well.
Hopefully I will get a chance to work on the next article in the series this weekend. I won't say what the subject will be, as I'm not really sure myself. In the original series plan it was going to be DAF next, but I might change the order round a bit.
Also, I hope this thread will be a place where we can discuss the scores as well as just a place where I announce that the next article is online. So, until the next article is online, let the Goldeneye debate continue.
The score's lack of popularity is due, not so much to bad music, but more to Serra misreading what the 90s Bond fan wants to hear. And frankly, the producers should have known better as well.
Hopefully I will get a chance to work on the next article in the series this weekend. I won't say what the subject will be, as I'm not really sure myself. In the original series plan it was going to be DAF next, but I might change the order round a bit.
Also, I hope this thread will be a place where we can discuss the scores as well as just a place where I announce that the next article is online. So, until the next article is online, let the Goldeneye debate continue.
EDIT - Oops! Posted the same message twice. Sorry ;%
I still like it. Barry is great but people can go different from the "norm" of Bond music and Serra did that, making Goldeneye the movie that it was, the edgy, suspenseful and dark 90s Bond film.
The synth just makes it so dark and intense that I love listening to it. All of the tracks are good, some are a bit tedious at points but all have highlights.
1. GE Overture - As Golrush said, he likes this and I do too, and I never noticed the Goldfinger homage until I thought about it, and it was used to great effect. The timpani gives it quite a modern sound showing that Bond is in the 90s but also an intense and "sneaky-sneaky" feeling.
2. Ladies First - This track could also be called the "Everyone except JFF hates this" track. It's a fun, bouncy piece that shows that the race is intense yet somewhat relaxed at the same time, it also outlines the glamour and sexiness of Xenia and also Bond showing how similar they are.
3. We Share The Same Passions - Beautiful love theme created by Serra with a lush orchestral backing and it oozes romance and picturesque locales, like the beach in Cuba and Monte Carlo.
Golrush, where you read about the piece being "too beautiful" is on Bondsmellsarat, I go there too.
@Golrush: Could you please tell me where I could find info on Altman and his affiliation with the "romance" tracks?
4. A Little Surprise For You - Sleek. That's the word to describe the front half of this cue. It just screams out, technology is around us and at the same time that it's being put to bad use. It also shows the suspense of them hijacking it and Bond being captured. The second half is the march into the Archives, and though it's harder to hear in the film, it's very well done, especially the chanting and the drums which adds to the overall eerieness and seriousness of the scene.
5. The Severnaya Suite - A very Barry-esque track with some deep sounding brass backing up the beautiful strings, reminiscent of We Share The Same Passions, only in a more suspenseful way. Beauty once again outlining Natalya's triumph over the baddies.
6. Our Lady of Smolensk - Created to outline the Russian Orthodox church that Natalya's out with chimes and chanting backing the synth, it's a very creepy and unsettling track, and quite effective in the scene, only sad thing is it's too short to really capture full enjoyment.
7. Whispering Statues - A suspenseful first half with Russian chanters outlining the "something's not right about all this" aspect in the scene at the statue park. The synth piano kicks in at 1:37 with some creepy yet beautiful melodies that work so well you just love 'em.
8. Run, Shoot, And Jump! - Action track that is so wonderfully used in the sequences during the film as it has blaring noises all the way round and is even a pleasant thing to listen to, to boot with the pseudo brass and the looming strings.
9. A Pleasant Drive in St. Petersburg - The most controversial track in the Bond franchise, allegedly so hated by the producers that they got Altman to do the real thing. Well, here's what I think. Serra composed something great right here but it's use in the tank chase is a no. It's a bit to bouncy to be a chase theme, especially in the situation Bond is facing. On the other hand, Altman's tune isn't the greatest either, it's too boring after the blaring Bond theme after the beginning. So Serra's is great to listen to, but it would be inappropriate for the film.
10. Fatal Weakness - The suspense of the impending doom of the train and the hostage situation with Natalya is done well here with the held out synth instruments and the increased tempo toward the end.
11. That's What Keeps You Alone - Another rendition of We Share The Same Passions played in a much more bold way. Very effective in the analyzing of Bond and the love scene thereafter.
12. Dish Out of Water - A very catchy tune is placed here for the fight with Xenia and I love it. Then the dish rises and you have synth and what sounds like brass working together to create a "DUN DUN DUN, IT'S THE SATTELITE" feeling.
13. The Scale to Hell - Another pretty much unused track in the movie, as the "Boris Pen" part was replaced by Fatal Weakness and the Cradle Fight was replaced by Run, Shoot, And Jump! but it's a good listen. The Boris Pen would work pretty well I think, but for the Cradle Fight, while it's good to listen too, is once again a bit too relaxed for two former friends going at it for a final time when the world's safety is on the line.
16. The Experience of Love - Another knocked track, Serra's song is mellow but I still think it's very nice.
All in all, one of my favorite soundtracks, surpassing many of Barry's, especially those that are too tedious and begin to sound the same.
I couldn't agree more with these two comments JFF. I particularly like these cues, both in the film, and when listening to the CD.
And, the only place I found info on Altman's involvement was in the CD booklet where he is credited for orchestrating and conducting the symphonic cues. I guess this means cues like 'we share the same passions' and 'severnaya suite'.
(1) The title song. This was written (by Paul Hewson and David Evans, aka Bono and The Edge) and recorded (produced by Nellie Hooper, arrangement by Craig Armstrong; vocal by Tina Turner) independently from the rest of the film's score. It therefore did not feature thematically in the soundtrack of GE (or any other Bond film).
(2) The synthesiser parts. These were composed and recorded by Eric Serra in Paris.
(3) The orchestral parts. These were composed by Serra (with the exception of "Tank Drive Around St. Petersburg", of course, which has its own story) then arranged for orchestra by Serra and John Altman. Altman then conducted the London Studio Session Orchestra (in London, of course).
Some parts of the score are synth only, some orchestra only, some mix the two.
Hope this helps!
Edit: I forgot to mention "The Experience Of Love". Freudian slip- I hate that song.
I personally thought Altman did an admirable job. Although I own the GoldenEye soundtrack, and generally like Serra's work, the film needed a kick up the ass musically; and that's what Altman did for it. He should have been given the opportunity to score an entire Bond film himself.
For Your Eyes Only
Remember that one member here that tends to love the lesser-loved children of the Bond universe?
Well Golrush, I like Ski...Shoot...Jump! so you are NOT alone!
So what d'you think of the rest of the score?
Let me know what you think: of the article and the music!
:007)
(1) You're not alone in preferring the Barry song to the Cooper one. {[]
(2) I agree that JB does overuse the main theme in this score (The Cat calls this the "monothematic approach", as opposed to say TB where a secondary theme- in that case MKKBB- is also developed and used alongside the Bond Theme and "007" thus giving four different melodies to weave in and out of the soundtrack) and the variations become "a little boring eventually". This is, at least in part, owing to Barry having much less time than usual to work on the film (which, again at least in part, was due to his strained relationship with Harry Saltzman).
(3) As you say, the almost total exclusion of Nick Nack's theme is a loss. There's a cover version by Nic Raine & the City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra available on at least three Silva albums/compilations (along with "Slow Boat From China", yet another slow variation on the main theme).
(4) Again, I'm totally with you on "Let's Go Get 'Em" being "a good old bit of Bondian chase music". As he does on the fun house pieces, JB "Mickey-Mouses" (to use his own phrase) the action enjoyably. Incidentally the string-based arrangement of the Bond Theme used here originated in an earlier Barry album "The Concert John Barry" and was re-used not only in his later Bond films but also in his "Moviola 2" album.
(5)...and like you I don't like the "No need to fear, James Bond is here" lyric! Shades of CR67
(6) Finally, and again in total agreement, I love the Dixieland track. A guilty pleasure?
Please, try to rewrite this potion of the article - Cooper's song was a mere publicity stunt and wasn't rejected by the producers who a) never asked for the song to be written and b) never heard it.